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As mentioned in the article about Robert Bown and the murder trial, it was known that Robert Bown fell foul of the law after serving his sentence for the manslaughter of Timothy Murphy. I recently found several archived news reports on Trove which relate to the offences he committed after returning to the Murtoa district […]

The HarperFamilyTree.com website has been really effective for getting in contact with other Harpers and their descendants around Australia who we wouldn’t have otherwise known or perhaps even known about. The first significant contact was from Maurie Harper. He had been researching for many years but there were questions around what had become of his […]

I came across this interesting story whilst searching the Internet this evening. It relates to a feud between the Bowns and the Murphys that ended up with Timothy Murphy being shot by Robert Bown. I wasn’t able to see a way I could contact the owner of the website containing the story, but I’m sure […]

Like most families, the Harper family had several family members who joined the military and fought in the Boer War, World War I and World War II. Here are some links and information relating to their military service.

Patrick Ryan was born in Limerick or Clare, Ireland around 1804-1805 and traveled to Australia with his wife Sarah (nee McInerney) and four children (William, Ann, Honorah, Mary). His children were all born in Limerick and his wife was born in Clare (where they were also married according to Sarah’s death record). It is unknown […]